Sponsor
The Franklin Institute
Description
Since 1824, The Franklin Institute of Philadelphia has honored the legacy of Benjamin Franklin by presenting awards for outstanding achievements in science, engineering, and industry. Past laureates include Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Claude Shannon, Jane Goodall, Nikola Tesla, Stephen Hawking, Edward Lorenz, the Wright Brothers, Bill Gates, and Albert Einstein.
This year's theme is Decision-Making
The Franklin Institute seeks nominations for the 2021 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science of individuals who have made significant contributions to the scientific understanding of decision-making. The interdisciplinary field of decision-making integrates theory and methods from economics, psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and related areas to understand the mechanisms through which individuals and groups choose among competing possibilities and how these mechanisms guide behavior.
Nominations are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following subtopics and their intersections:
- Psychological insights: mechanisms, development, context-dependence, individual differences, cultural variation, evolution
- Modeling of individual or group choice behaviour: valuation, social preferences, impulsivity, strategy, network models
- Neurobiological mechanisms: human neuroscience, model organisms, behavioral neuroscience, genetic approaches, comparative approaches
- Clinical approaches: pharmacology, psychiatric disorders, neuropsychological conditions
- Development of interventions to improve individual and/or group decision-making outcomes
- Broad applications: artificial intelligence, courts/law, education, finance, health/medicine, government/public policy, intelligence, labor, technology
Eligibility
- This is an international competition for individuals who have made significant contributions to research in decision-making and/or its applications.
- Candidates must be living, and the winner must participate in The Franklin Institute Awards Week programs, to be held in April 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Nominations from any individual or organization will be accepted, including self-nominations.
- additional criteria may be found on the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science website
Prize
The award, a 14k gold medal, and cash prize of $250,000 USD are presented annually to a distinguished member of the international scientific community.
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Internal Deadline | If you wish to be considered for VPR nomination, please submit your Expression of Interest (see How to Apply) to research.honours@uoguelph.ca | |
External Deadline | If your nomination will be submitted by a nominator other than the VPR, please submit directly to the sponsor by the external deadline. Please also submit a copy of the full nomination and OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca. |
How to Apply
The Vice-President (Research) encourages nominations for this award, and will serve as nominator for those nominees recommended by the Honours and Awards Advisory Committee. If you wish to nominate a colleague or to be considered for VPR nomination, please submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to research.honours@uoguelph.ca by the internal deadline.
An Expression of Interest will include:
- A draft letter (two-three pages) addressed to the VPR, signed by your ADR, which outlines how you/your nominee meets the criteria outlined on the Bower Award and Prize for the Achievement in Science website
- an up-to-date CV for nominee (and each member of the team, if applicable)
As this is an international prize, the University may engage the Global Excellence Initiative to coordinate external review of nominations.
If your nomination will be submitted by a different nominee, and therefore does not require the Vice-President's endorsement, please submit an OR-5 and a complete nomination to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline.
For more information, contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca or Beth Scheraga at bscheraga@fi.edu.